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Children or adolescents having a curve degree >40 degrees tend to progress with growth, and may reach to a severity that can cause lung and heart problems, decrease the quality of life, and shorten the lifespan.
Even in skeletally mature individuals, thoracic curves of >50 degrees and lumbar curves of >40 degrees tend to progress with time. This progression rate is not as fast as in the skeletally immature. Spinal degenerative changes will be absent or few in young adults. Likewise, comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, etc., will be less frequent. Therefore, surgical deformity correction for young adults may be more beneficial and easier than later adulthood and for the elderly.